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    15 November 2013, Volume 8 Issue 32 Previous Issue    Next Issue
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    Differences in brain structure in patients with distinct sites of chronic pain A voxel-based morphometric analysis
    Cuiping Mao, Longxiao Wei, Qiuli Zhang, Xia Liao, Xiaoli Yang, Ming Zhang
    2013, 8 (32):  2981-2990.  doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.32.001
    Abstract ( 290 )   PDF (488KB) ( 1772 )   Save

    A reduction in gray matter volume is common in patients with chronic back pain, and different types of pain are associated with gray matter abnormalities in distinct brain regions. To examine differences in brain morphology in patients with low back pain or neck and upper back pain, we investigated changes in gray matter volume in chronic back pain patients having different sites of pain using voxel-based morphometry. A reduction in cortical gray matter volume was found primarily in the left postcentral gyrus and in the left precuneus and bilateral cuneal cortex of patients with low back pain. In these patients, there was an increase in subcortical gray matter volume in the bilateral putamen and accumbens, right pallidum, right caudate nucleus, and left amygdala. In upper back pain patients, reduced cortical gray matter volume was found in the left precentral and left postcentral cortices. Our findings suggest that regional gray matter volume abnormalities in low back pain patients are more extensive than in upper back pain patients. Subcortical gray matter volume increases are found only in patients with low back pain.

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    Orofacial inflammatory pain affects the expression of MT1 and NADPH-d in rat caudal spinal trigeminal nucleus and trigeminal ganglion
    Fang Huang, Hongwen He, Wenguo Fan, Yongliang Liu, Hongyu Zhou, Bin Cheng
    2013, 8 (32):  2991-3002.  doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.32.002
    Abstract ( 199 )   PDF (501KB) ( 1369 )   Save

    Very little is known about the role of melatonin in the trigeminal system, including the function of melatonin receptor 1. In the present study, adult rats were injected with formaldehyde into the right vibrissae pad to establish a model of orofacial inflammatory pain. The distribution of melatonin re-ceptor 1 and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate diaphorase in the caudal spinal trigem-inal nucleus and trigeminal ganglion was determined with immunohistochemistry and histochemistry. The results show that there are significant differences in melatonin receptor 1 expression and nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate diaphorase expression in the trigeminal ganglia and caudal spinal nucleus during the early stage of orofacial inflammatory pain. Our findings suggest that when melatonin receptor 1 expression in the caudal spinal nucleus is significantly reduced, melatonin’s regulatory effect on pain is attenuated.

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    Gabapentin inhibits central sensitization during migraine
    Yanbo Zhang, Guo Shao, Wei Zhang, Sijie Li, Jingzhong Niu, Dongmei Hu, Mingfeng Yang, Xunming Ji
    2013, 8 (32):  3003-3012.  doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.32.003
    Abstract ( 295 )   PDF (313KB) ( 1452 )   Save

    Peripheral and central sensitizations are phenomena that occur during migraine. The role of gabapentin, a migraine preventive drug, on central sensitization remains unclear. In this study, a rat model of migraine was established by electrical stimulation of the trigeminal ganglion, and the an-imals were given intragastric gabapentin. Changes in amino acid content in the cerebrospinal fluid and protein kinase C membrane translocation in the spinal trigeminal nucleus were examined to clarify the mechanisms underlying the efficacy of gabapentin in the treatment of central sensitization during migraine. Electrophysiology, liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry and western blot analysis results revealed that gabapentin reduces neuronal excitability in the spinal nucleus in the trigeminal nerve, decreases excitatory amino acid content and inhibits the activation of protein ki-nase C. This provides evidence that excitatory amino acids and protein kinase C are involved in the formation and maintenance of central sensitization during migraine. Gabapentin inhibits migraine by reducing excitatory amino acid content in the cerebrospinal fluid and inhibiting protein kinase C ac-tivation.

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    Transient receptor potential channel A1 involved in calcitonin gene-related peptide release in neurons
    Nobumasa Ushio, Yi Dai, Shenglan Wang, Tetsuo Fukuoka, Koichi Noguchi
    2013, 8 (32):  3013-3019.  doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.32.004
    Abstract ( 203 )   PDF (279KB) ( 1412 )   Save

    Transient receptor potential channel A1 is one of the important transducers of noxious stimuli in the primary afferents, which may contribute to generation of neurogenic inflammation and hyperalgesia. The present study was designed to investigate if activation of transient receptor potential channel A1 may induce calcitonin gene-related peptide release from the primary afferent neurons. We found that application of allyl isothiocyanate, a transient receptor potential channel A1 activator, caused calcitonin gene-related peptide release from the cultured rat dorsal root ganglion neurons. Knock-down of transient receptor potential channel A1 with an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide prevented calcitonin gene-related peptide release by allyl isothiocyanate application in cultured dorsal root ganglion neurons. Thus, we concluded that transient receptor potential channel A1 activation caused calcitonin gene-related peptide release in sensory neurons.

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    Mannotriose regulates learning and memory signal transduction in the hippocampus
    Lina Zhang, Weiwei Dai, Xueli Zhang, Zhangbin Gong, Guoqin Jin
    2013, 8 (32):  3020-3026.  doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.32.005
    Abstract ( 289 )   PDF (259KB) ( 1272 )   Save

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    Rho-associated protein kinase modulates neurite extension by regulating microtubule remodeling and vinculin distribution
    Ke’en Chen, Wenbin Zhang, Jing Chen, Sumei Li, Guoqing Guo
    2013, 8 (32):  3027-3035.  doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.32.006
    Abstract ( 233 )   PDF (359KB) ( 1575 )   Save

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    A magnetic nanoparticles-based method for DNA extraction from the saliva of stroke patients
    Li Yi, Ying Huang, Ting Wu, Jun Wu
    2013, 8 (32):  3036-3046.  doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.32.007
    Abstract ( 191 )   PDF (350KB) ( 3142 )   Save

    C677T polymorphism in the methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) gene is a risk factor for stroke, suggesting that widespread detection could help to prevent stroke. DNA from 70 stroke pa-tients and 70 healthy controls was extracted from saliva using a magnetic nanoparticles-based method and from blood using conventional methods. Real-time PCR results revealed that the C677T polymorphism was genotyped by PCR using DNA extracted from both saliva and blood samples. The genotype results were confirmed by gene sequencing, and results for saliva and blood samples were consistent. The mutation TT genotype frequency was significantly higher in the stroke group than in controls. Homocysteine levels were significantly higher than controls in both TT genotype groups. Therefore, this noninvasive magnetic nanoparticles-based method using saliva samples could be used to screen for the MTHFR C677T polymorphism in target populations.

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    ClC-3 chloride channel in hippocampal neuronal apoptosis
    Lijuan Xu, Shuling Zhang, Hongling Fan, Zhichao Zhong, Xi Li, Xiaoxiao Jin, Quanzhong Chang
    2013, 8 (32):  3047-3054.  doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.32.008
    Abstract ( 187 )   PDF (312KB) ( 1440 )   Save

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    Viscoelastic evaluation of fetal umbilical vein for reconstruction of middle cerebral artery
    Dongyuan Li, Donghui Xu, Peng Li, Jun Wei, Kun Yang, Conghai Zhao
    2013, 8 (32):  3055-3062.  doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.32.009
    Abstract ( 217 )   PDF (131KB) ( 1416 )   Save

    The transplantation of artificial blood vessels with < 6 mm inner diameter as substitutes for human arterioles or veins has not achieved satisfactory results. Umbilical vein has been substituted for ar-tery in vascular transplantation, but it remains unclear whether the stress relaxation and creep be-tween these vessels are consistent. In this study, we used the fetal umbilical vein and middle cere-bral artery from adult male cadavers to make specimens 15 mm in length, 0.196–0.268 mm in tu-nica media thickness, and 2.82–2.96 mm in outer diameter. The results demonstrated that the stress decrease at 7 200 seconds was similar between the middle cerebral artery and fetal umbilical vein specimens, regardless of initial stress of 18.7 kPa or 22.5 kPa. However, the strain increase at 7 200 seconds of fetal umbilical veins was larger than that of middle cerebral arteries. Moreover, the stress relaxation experiment showed that the stress decrease at 7 200 seconds of the fetal umbilical vein and middle cerebral artery specimens under 22.5 kPa initial stress was less than the decrease in these specimens under 18.7 kPa initial stress. These results indicate that the fetal umbilical vein has appropriate stress relaxation and creep properties for transplantation. These properties are advantageous for vascular reconstruction, indicating that the fetal umbilical vein can be transplanted to repair middle cerebral artery injury.

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    Learning tasks as a possible treatment for DNA lesions induced by oxidative stress in hippocampal neurons
    Dragoş Cîrneci, Radu Silaghi-Dumitrescu
    2013, 8 (32):  3063-3070.  doi: 10.3969/j.issn.1673-5374.2013.32.010
    Abstract ( 174 )   PDF (250KB) ( 1197 )   Save

    Reactive oxygen species have been implicated in conditions ranging from cardiovascular dysfunc-tion, arthritis, cancer, to aging and age-related disorders. The organism developed several path-ways to counteract these effects, with base excision repair being responsible for repairing one of the major base lesions (8-oxoG) in all organisms. Epidemiological evidence suggests that cognitive stimulation makes the brain more resilient to damage or degeneration. Recent studies have linked enriched environment to reduction of oxidative stressin neurons of mice with Alzheimer’s dis-ease-like disease, but given its complexity it is not clear what specific aspect of enriched environ-ment has therapeutic effects. Studies from molecular biology have shown that the protein p300, which is a transcription co-activator required for consolidation of memories during specific learning tasks, is at the same time involved in DNA replication and repair, playing a central role in the long-patch pathway of base excision repair. Based on the evidence, we propose that learning tasks such as novel object recognition could be tested as possible methods of base excision repair facil-itation, hence inducing DNA repair in the hippocampal neurons. If this method proves to be effective, it could be the start for designing similar tasks for humans, as a behavioral therapeutic complement to the classical drug-based therapy in treating neurodegenerative disorders. This review presents the current status of therapeutic methods used in treating neurodegenerative diseases induced by reactive oxygen species and proposes a new approach based on existing data.

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